Sediment Coring Apparatus for Preventing Loss and Disturbance of Sample in Core

ABSTRACT

Provided is a coring apparatus for collecting marine sediments, and more particularly, to a coring apparatus having a core filled with marine sediments when the coring apparatus is inserted into a seabed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0063580, filed on Jun. 14, 2012, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a coring apparatus for collecting marine sediments, and more particularly, to a coring apparatus having a core filled with marine sediments when the coring apparatus is inserted into a seabed.

BACKGROUND

For various researches and experiments for geoscience and mineral resources, there is a need to collect samples. To this end, various types of sample collecting apparatuses and coring apparatuses have been proposed.

Describing in detail, since marine sediments have well preserved information in respect to a global environment change over a long period of time, the marine sediments have been utilized as palaeoecological research data and important research data for tracing and developing seabed mineral resources (manganese nodules, phosphoanhydrite, marine sand, and the like) and energy sources (oil, gas, gas hydrate, and the like).

Further, the marine sediments are important research data about seabed geologic storage, and the like, to reduce pollution or dioxide carbon at a coastal area which has a direct relationship with mankind activities.

Due to various purposes as described above, collecting samples of marine sediments is one process essential for research and development. To this end, various types of apparatuses for collecting marine sediments have been proposed.

There is a coring apparatus having the core filled with the marine sediments when the core is inserted into the seabed, being disposed in an external tube having a pipe form, such as a piston corer, a gravity corer, a multi corer, and the like, in the apparatus for collecting marine sediments.

However, according to the coring apparatus having the core in accordance with the related art, since the marine sediments filled in the core are excessively disturbed or flow down from the core, which is lost during pulling up of the coring apparatus to a ship after the coring apparatus performs the coring operation, and the like, the case in which the coring operation itself becomes meaningless may frequently occur.

In particular, when the coring operation is performed at a weak ground, the loss of the marine sediments frequently occurs in the core, such that the situations in which data may not be obtained through the coring operation occur frequently.

That is, the marine sediments need to be filled in the core in an intact form without the loss of the marine sediments in the core and the disturbance phenomenon, such as the mixing of the marine sediments, and the like, such that the high reliable data may be obtained through the samples of the marine sediments.

In order to prevent the samples in the core from being lost and disturbed during the pulling up of the coring apparatus, as disclosed in Korean Patent No. 1029693, the coring apparatus in which a top portion of the core that can be sealed has been proposed.

However, the related art as described above is a technology of moving upwardly the piston disposed in the core by a pressured generated during the process of filling the marine sediments in the core when the external pipe and the core of the coring apparatus are inserted into the seabed and disposing a packing at the outside of the piston to prevent a gap from being formed between the packing and the core.

Therefore, when the packing is overturned or a pressure is applied to the piston while the piston moves upwardly, the piston does not move smoothly, such that the situations in which the operation of the piston is not performed perfectly may occur.

SUMMARY

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing a coring apparatus capable of preventing a loss and a disturbance of marine sediments in a core from occurring during a pulling up of the coring apparatus after the coring apparatus performs a coring operation, without applying a pressure to the marine sediments introduced into the core.

In one general aspect, when a core is pulled up after a coring operation is performed, a screw disposed over the core rotates by a force pulling up the core to move a stopper and allow the stopper to seal a top portion of the core, thereby preventing a loss and a disturbance of marine sediments in the core for occurring.

The coring apparatus may have an external tube may be inserted into a seabed for performing a coring operation.

The core may be disposed in the external tube and have the marine sediments filled from a bottom portion thereof by being inserted into the seabed at the same time when the external tube is inserted into the seabed.

The coring apparatus may have a stopper disposed to be adhered to a top portion of the core to seal the top portion of the core.

The coring apparatus has a screw disposed over the core and rotating by moving upwardly the external tube and the core inserted into the seabed in the state in which the external tube and the core contact seawater when the external tube and the core are pulled up.

The coring apparatus may have a stopper moving part having a stopper moving shaft which connects the screw with the stopper to move upwardly the stopper with respect to the core in response to the rotation of the screw when the external tube and the core are pulled up, thereby sealing the top portion of the core.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which an external tube and a core are inserted into a seabed and a piston moves upwardly, during a coring operation of the seabed by a coring apparatus having a core according to the related art.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which a coring apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention capable of preventing a loss and a disturbance of samples in a core descends to be inserted into a seabed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the coring apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention capable of preventing the loss and the disturbance of the samples in the core is pulled up to a ship.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a technical spirit of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

However, the accompanying drawings are only examples shown in order to describe the technical idea of the present invention in more detail. Therefore, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to shapes of the accompanying drawings.

The present invention relates to a coring apparatus having a core 20 filled with marine sediments.

Therefore, the coring apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has an external tube 10 inserted into a seabed for performing a coring operation.

Further, the coring apparatus has the core 20 disposed in the external tube 10 and having the marine sediments filled from a bottom portion thereof by being inserted into the seabed at the same time when the external tube 10 is inserted into the seabed.

However, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is to provide the coring apparatus capable of preventing a loss and a disturbance of the marine sediments in the core during a pulling up of the coring apparatus after the coring apparatus performs a coring operation.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a top portion of the core 20 is sealed to prevent the loss or the disturbance of the marine sediments in the core 20 during the pulling up of the coring apparatus after the coring apparatus performs the coring operation. (This is the same as a principle of sealing a top portion of a spoid to prevent a liquid in the spoid from pouring down).

Therefore, the coring apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a stopper 30 which is disposed to be adhered to a top portion of the core 20 to seal the top portion thereof.

Further, the coring apparatus includes a screw 40 which is disposed over the core 20 and rotates by moving upwardly the external tube 10 and the core 20 inserted into the seabed in the state in which the external tube 10 and the core 20 contact seawater, when the external tube 10 and the core 20 are pulled up.

Here, the coring apparatus includes a stopper moving part 50 having a stopper moving shaft 51 which connects the screw 40 with the stopper 30 and moves upwardly the stopper 30 with respect to the core 20 in response to the rotation of the screw 40 when the external tube 10 and the core 20 are pulled up, thereby sealing the top portion of the core 20.

The stopper moving shaft 51 as described above may have a helical shape (bolt shape) for helical coupling so as to move at the time of the rotation.

Further, the stopper moving part 50 is provided with a nut part 52 which is coupled with a helical part of the stopper moving shaft 51.

The foregoing structure has a structure in which when the external tube 10 and the core 20 are pulled up, the screw 40 rotates and the stopper moving shaft 51 moves upwardly with respect to the core 20 by rotating the stopper moving shaft 51 simultaneously with the rotation of the screw 40, such that the stopper 30 moves upwardly with respect to the core 20 to completely seal the top portion of the core 20.

Therefore, the occurrence of the phenomenon in which the marine sediments in the core 20 pours down from the core 20 and the disturbance phenomenon in which the marine sediments are mixed in the core 20 is prevented.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the external tube 10 and the core descend toward the seabed for performing the coring operation, the screw 40 may be implemented to rotate in an opposite direction to a rotation direction of the screw 40 when the external tube and the core move upwardly.

The structure generates a propulsive force by the rotation of the screw 40 to more rapidly move the external tube 10 and the core 20 toward the seabed, such that the external tube 10 and the core 20 are deeply inserted into the seabed.

As a result, no matter how relatively light the weight of the coring apparatus is, the propulsive force is generated by the rotation of the screw 40, such that the external tube 10 and the core 20 may be deeply inserted into the seabed because the weight of the coring apparatus is heavy.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the stopper moving shaft 51 is preferably implemented so as not to move even though the screw 40 rotates when the external tube 10 and the core 20 descend. For this reason, it is possible to make a length of the stopper moving shaft 51 short, and the like.

In particular, when the stopper moving shaft 51 has a bolt shape having a helical curve, the stopper moving shaft 51 is strongly tightened at an end portion of the helical curve to cause the phenomenon in which the screw 40 does not smoothly rotate even though the screw 40 is applied with a force rotating in an opposite direction. Even though the screw rotates when the core 20 descends, the phenomenon may be prevented by preventing the stopper moving shaft 51 from moving.

Therefore, when the external tube 10 and the core 20 descend, the stopper moving shaft 51 is implemented so as not to move even though the screw 40 rotates.

To this end, a hanger is disposed at a connection part between the stopper moving shaft 51 and the screw 40, when the external tube 10 and the core 20 are pulled up, a torque of the screw is delivered to the stopper moving shaft 51 by the hanger to rotate the stopper moving shaft 51 together, and when the screw 40 rotates in an opposite direction (when the external tube 10 and the core 20 descend), there is no portion to which the hanger is hanged, such that only the screw 40 may rotate (not illustrated).

Only when the screw rotates in any one direction by the hanger, the structure in which the torque is delivered to the shaft may be widely applied to a box spanner, and the like, which is a tool loosening or tightening a bolt and a nut.

As set forth above, according to the coring apparatus in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the screw disposed over the top portion of the core rotates by the force pulling upwardly the coring apparatus at the time of pulling up the coring apparatus after the coring apparatus performs the coring operation to move the stopper and allow the stopper to seal the top portion of the core, thereby preventing the phenomenon in which the marine sediments filled in the core pour down from the core to be lost and the marine sediments in the core are disturbed.

Further, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, when the external tube and the core descend toward the seabed for performing the coring operation, the screw rotates and when the external tube and the core move upwardly, the screw rotates in an opposite direction to the rotation direction of the screw to make the external tube and the core more rapidly move toward the seabed, such that the external tube and the core are more strongly inserted into the seabed, thereby more smoothly performing the coring operation.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments but may be variously applied, and may be variously modified by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A sediment coring apparatus for preventing a loss and a disturbance of samples in a core, comprising: a core filled with marine sediments; an external tube inserted into a seabed for performing a coring operation; a core which is disposed in the external tube and has the marine sediments filled from a bottom portion thereof by being inserted into the seabed at the same time when the external tube is inserted into the seabed; a stopper which is disposed to be adhered to a top portion of the core to seal the top portion of the core; a screw which is disposed over the core and rotating by moving upwardly the external tube and the core inserted into the seabed in the state in which the external tube and the core contact seawater when the external tube and the core are pulled up; and a stopper moving part having a stopper moving shaft which connects the screw with the stopper to move upwardly the stopper with respect to the core in response to the rotation of the screw when the external tube and the core are pulled up so as to seal the top portion of the core.
 2. The sediment coring apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the external tube and the core descend toward the seabed for performing the coring operation, the screw rotates and when the external tube and the core move upwardly, the screw rotates in an opposite direction to the rotation direction of the screw to make the external tube and the core more rapidly move toward the seabed.
 3. The sediment coring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the stopper moving shaft has a helical shape for helical coupling so as to move at the time of the rotation and even though the screw rotates when the external tube and the core descend, the stopper moving shaft does not move.
 4. The sediment coring apparatus of claim 2, wherein the stopper moving shaft has a helical shape for helical coupling so as to move at the time of the rotation and even though the screw rotates when the external tube and the core descend, the stopper moving shaft does not move. 